What is metamemory? How does it change with age?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Metamemory is knowledge about memory. This includes general knowledge about memory. It also encompasses knowledge about one's own memory.

By 5 or 6 years of age, children usually already know that familiar items are easier to learn than unfamiliar ones, that short lists are easier than long ones, that recognition is easier than recall, and that forgetting is more likely to occur over time. However, in other ways young children's metamemory is limited. They don't understand that related items are easier to remember than unrelated ones and that remembering the gist of a story is easier than remembering information verbatim. By the fifth grade, however, students understand that gist recall is easier than verbatim recall.

As far as knowledge about their own memory is concerned, young children usually have an inflated opinion of their memory abilities. As they move through the elementary school years, children become better aware of their memory skills.